BILL ANALYSIS 1
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SENATE ENERGY, UTILITIES AND COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE
DEBRA BOWEN, CHAIRWOMAN
AB 1618 - Firebaugh/Calderon Hearing
Date: August 28, 2003 A
As Amended: August 25, 2003 FISCAL/URGENCY
B
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DESCRIPTION
Current federal law provides the Federal Railroad Administration
(FRA) with the authority to establish safety and operating
standards for interstate railroads. Enforcement of those
standards has been delegated by the FRA to the California Public
Utilities Commission (CPUC).
Current state law requires the CPUC to investigate any railroad
accidents.
Current CPUC regulations require railroads to immediately notify
local public safety agencies of any release or threatened
release of any hazardous materials where there's a reasonable
belief that the release poses a significant harm to people,
property, or the environment.
This bill requires the CPUC to require every railroad
corporation to, in consultation with the Office of Emergency
Services (OES), develop a protocol to quickly inform OES and
local public safety agencies when there's a runaway train or any
other uncontrolled train movement that threatens public health
and safety.
BACKGROUND
On June 20, 2003, 31 cars of a Union Pacific (UP) freight train
escaped from a rail yard in Montclair, rolling uncontrolled
through Pomona and reaching speeds of up to 86 miles per hour.
Twenty five minutes after breaking free, and 28 miles down the
tracks, the cars were intentionally derailed in the City of
Commerce, destroying two homes and damaging several others, but
causing no loss of life or injuries.
Local public safety authorities weren't notified by UP at any
time before the derailment, though there is no legal obligation
for the railroad operator to do so.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the CPUC are
independently investigating the accident. The CPUC expects to
issue its report in September or October, while the NTSB report
is expected sometime before the end of the year.
COMMENTS
1.Creating A Notification Requirement . While a major disaster
was avoided when the UP railcars were derailed in Commerce,
that was more a matter of luck than planning. The absence of
any requirement to notify down-track public safety officials
of a runaway train is a glaring hole in railroad safety
regulation. This bill simply requires railroads to establish
communications procedures with those public safety agencies
and OES. The bill provides the railroads with flexibility in
establishing those procedures and it doesn't require the CPUC
to develop the procedures itself.
2.Ensuring That The Notification Requirement Is Followed . While
the bill requires a communications protocol to be created, it
doesn't require the protocol to be followed, nor does it
require any state agency to approve of the protocols that are
developed. To correct those issues, the author and committee
may wish to consider adopting the following language:
Add a new subdivision (b) on Page 2, Line 15: (b) A
railroad corporation must promptly notify the Office
of Emergency Services and designated local public
safety agencies if there is a runaway train or any
other uncontrolled train movement that threatens
public health and safety, pursuant to the railroad
corporation's communications protocol developed
pursuant to (a).
Add language to require either OES or the CPUC to find
that the protocols that are developed by the railroads
are consistent with the intent of this measure.
3.When Does This Have To Be Done By? The measure doesn't set a
deadline by which the protocols have to be developed. The
author and committee may wish to consider establishing a March
1, 2004 deadline. As this is an urgency bill, such a deadline
would provide the railroad companies with at least
four-and-a-half months to comply with the bill's provisions
(assuming the bill is signed into law on the last eligible
day, October 12, 2003).
4.Take Them Now Or Take Them Later . To facilitate the timely
hearing of this bill by the Senate Appropriations Committee,
the author and committee may wish to agree to have any
amendments to the bill that are accepted in this committee
formally adopted by the Senate Appropriations Committee.
ASSEMBLY VOTES
Senate Transportation Committee (8-2)*
Assembly Floor (45-30)*
Assembly Appropriations Committee (17-7)*
Assembly Transportation Committee (14-6)*
*Prior, unrelated version of the bill
POSITIONS
Sponsor:
Author
Support:
City of Commerce
The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company
Union Pacific Railroad Company
Oppose:
None on file
Randy Chinn
AB 1618 Analysis
Hearing Date: August 28, 2003